Researchers win $5 million grant to examine impact of Common Core

Using a $5 million grant from the Spencer Foundation and the William T. Grant Foundation, researchers from Brown University, the University of Michigan and Stanford University will evaluate the effectiveness of the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSS).
 
“The development and use of the Common Core State Standards offer a unique and important opportunity to examine potential transformations underway in the organization and delivery of instruction in the unequal terrain of American schooling,” Susan Moffitt, associate professor of political science and international and public affairs at Brown University, said.
 
Titled “Under Construction: The Rise, Spread and Consequences of the Common Core State Standards Initiative in the U.S. Educational Sector,” the project will examine video recordings, spanning six urban school districts and 240 teachers, and a Stanford database of student achievement trends in all 50 states.

Researchers will also take a more in-depth approach to evaluating some states and districts, looking at how they develop CCSS ideas and how they are put into practice.
 
“We expect that our research will illuminate how the CCSS initiative affects educational inequality and inform future efforts to reduce that inequality by shedding light on how organizational networks and capacities might be leveraged to do so,” Moffitt said.